Page 135 of Culinary Chaos

“And did you?” Angelica looked at her directly.

“I did.” Hope grinned. “But I’m not going to lie, the break last week has been a bit nice in that regard. At least way less complicated.”

“And no mean hotel manager poking around in your business.”

Hope gave a fake scoff. “How dare you think I don’t like that! I, in fact, love when the hotel manager comes down to ruffle my feathers.”

“Do you?” Angelica’s eyes were alight with amusement. She lifted the beer back to her lips, covering the bottle with them. Hope couldn’t tear her gaze away.

“There you are,” Rex said, coming to stand in front of them.

In an instant, everything shifted. The flirtatious tones ended, and Hope’s mood dropped from the tingling that she felt to something more akin to annoyance. And she hated that. But why had she even done that? She wasn’t embarrassed by the fact that she had a good relationship with Angelica. In fact, wasn’t that what everyone had wanted on some level, for the two of them to get along well so the show could continue?

“The party is going great, I think.” Rex kept his gaze forward, observing everyone around him.

“Agreed,” Angelica said, sliding a look at Hope, one that was full of curiosity and more. Had she sensed the shift too?

It was probably just because Hope had been enjoying herself, and she knew that as soon as Rex came over Angelica would act different. That little insight that she was so used to getting wouldn’t be a thing anymore, and she wanted that.

Because she liked Angelica.

And the issue wasn’t that she thought Rex was going to affect Angelica, it was that she didn’t want Rex to know that she had a crush. And normally, she and Rex would talk about those things. They’d talk openly about physical attraction to other people, emotional attraction. They always came back to each other.

But this time Hope hadn’t.

She’d kept it to herself, not just their first awkward kiss that Hope had initiated, but the tension and desire and longing that she’d felt for the last three months. What the hell was she doing?

“Hope?” Rex asked, his voice rumbling. “What do you think?”

“Sorry.” She shook her head, looking into his eyes and smiling. “I got distracted. What was the question?”

“How do you think the show will do? After watching the first episode.” He clutched the bottle of beer in his hand and stared directly at her.

Could he tell?

Did he know what she was hiding?

“Oh, I don’t know.” She gave a nervous chuckle and finished off her drink. “I’m really not a good judge of that. I’m going to get another one, do you want one?” She pointed at Angelica’s since Rex’s was full.

Angelica glanced down at her drink. “Yes. Thank you.”

Hope took the empty bottle, clutching it in her hand as she walked away. Fear grasped her, fear and confusion and desire. It’d been a long time since a simple crush had taken such a hold on her. In fact, it’d been since before she met Rex, and she’d thought that he’d be the last one. But Angelica had come out of the blue, hadn’t she?

She picked up a new drink for each of them and then grabbed a small plate to fill it withnibblingsas Angelica had called them. She’d nearly forgotten she’d used that tease. She picked what she knew Angelica could eat and snagged a small napkin.

When she returned, Rex and Angelica were still talking shop. It really shouldn’t surprise Hope. Angelica seemed to always turn to work when she didn’t have anything else to discuss and wanted to keep everything as calm as she possibly could.

Handing over the drink and the plate, she stole a small treat off it for herself and popped it in her mouth. When she looked up, both Rex and Angelica were staring at her oddly. “What?”

“Nothing,” Rex said, shaking his head.

Hope looked at Angelica who seemed a bit more curious than offended, which was probably a good thing. But she did take the same small treat and pop it in her mouth, humming as it hit her tongue. Hope couldn’t stop herself from listing toward Angelica, getting even closer to her in the sea of people.

“It’s good,” Angelica whispered, her lips quirking slightly.

Hope wanted to see that again. In fact, she wanted to see it as often as possible. She looked up at Rex who stared at her curiously now, and a little suspiciously. She needed to stop whatever infatuation this was. It needed to stop immediately.

“When does press start?” Rex asked, flicking his gaze between them.